Spotlight: Satellite Servicing

The Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) from Northrop Grumman subsidiary SpaceLogistics is expected to provide docked life extension for 2,000-kg-class geostationary (GEO) satellites—a reusable “jet pack” that performs orbit maintenance and attitude control. With fuel for more than 15 years, MEV can undock and redock multiple times. MEV-1 is to be launched by Proton in 2019 to dock with Intelsat 901 and MEV-2 to another Intelsat satellite early in 2020 under a second five-year lease. MEV is based on Northrop’s GEOstar satellite bus.

Effective Space’s Space Drone is a 400-kg docked life-extension vehicle for GEO satellites, a competitor for the MEV. With Israel Aerospace Industries as prime contractor and financial backer, the UK startup plans to launch two vehicles on Proton in 2020 under a multi-year agreement with an unidentified international satellite operator.

NASA’s Restore-L robotic servicer mission planned for 2020 is to rendezvous with, grasp, refuel and relocate the Landsat 7 satellite in low Earth orbit (LEO). The SSL-built bus carries an autonomous relative-navigation system, dual dexterous robotic arms with multifunction tools and a propellant transfer system. NASA is looking for missions after refueling Landsat.

Japanese startup Astroscale plans a LEO satellite end-of-life deorbiting service, with an ELSA-d demo mission scheduled for early 2020. A 150-kg chaser and 20-kg target will be launched together by Soyuz, then separate to demonstrate search, rendezvous and capture of the target—stable or tumbling—using a magnetic docking plate.

DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program is expected to demonstrate on-orbit inspection, repair, refueling and upgrading. An SSL bus will carry a Naval Research Laboratory payload with two dexterous robotic arms. Launch is planned for 2021 on
a multi-year mission to service at least 20 commercial and government GEO satellites. After
the DARPA demo, SSL will operate the Remote Servicing Vehicle on a commercial basis.

Under the mantle of O.Cubed Services, Airbus plans a SpaceTug family of spacecraft for GEO satellite maintenance and inspection, LEO and GEO constellation deployment and orbital debris cleanup. Airbus plans to add a robotic payload to its Eurostar Neo satellite bus to create the servicer, with the first mission planned for 2023 in GEO